Nottingham Forest eye £22m ace ‘close to Phil Foden’ and striker Manchester City want to replace him with an….
Nottingham Forest are keeping tabs on two Turkey internationals heading into 2025 with Galatasaray’s Baris Alper Yilmaz and Besiktas striker Semih Kilicsoy on the Premier League club’s radar.
The Turkish national team appears to be on the verge of something of a Golden Generation at present.
After coming within touching distance of the semi-finals of last summer’s European Championships, big things are expected from a host of talented young players who made their name back home in the Super Lig.
Arda Guler, Kerem Akturkoglu and Orkun Kokcu have already made big-money moves. The former joined Real Madrid, while the latter duo ended up at Benfica respectively.
Ferdi Kadioglu, the all-action left-back, swapped Fenerbahce for Brighton and Hove Albion to the tune of £25 million.
Baris Alper Yilmaz and Semih Kilicsoy, meanwhile, now look well placed to seal transfers of their own to one of Europe’s major leagues in the coming months.
Nottingham Forest eye Baris Alper Yilmaz and Semih Kilicsoy
HITC understands that both attackers are on the radar of a Nottingham Forest side who, in their third season back in the Premier League, appear to be building a squad capable of far more than merely dodging relegation.
James Ward-Prowse, Alex Moreno, Morato and Nikola Milenkovic are all players Forest might have struggled to attract in previous windows. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side – who stunned Liverpool at Anfield last weekend – appear to be shopping in more upscale markets these days.
Yilmaz led the line brilliantly for Turkey at Euro 2024, leading Virgil van Dijk a merry dance in the last-eight.
His performances, HITC understands, caught the eye of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Aston Villa to name but three. Reportedly valued at around £22 million, the tireless Yilmaz played as a striker this summer but has also performed excellently for Turkish champions Galatasaray in a wide role.
Comparisons have been drawn, due largely to his speed and eye for goal, with Gareth Bale, Phil Foden and even Kylian Mbappe.
“I compare Baris Alper Yilmaz to Gareth Bale in terms of strength. He has the ability to sprint three or four meters after eliminating the opponent with the ball,” former coach Ilker Puren tells GS Gazete.
As for Kilicsoy, the Besiktas wonderkid models his game on one of Foden’s Manchester City predecessors.
Two-footed and an instinctive finisher, the 19-year-old certainly has shades of Sergio Aguero about the way he goes about his business in attack. Kilicsoy scored 11 goals from just 20 Super Lig starts at Besiktas in 2024/25.
His agent, Murat Teber, confirmed what HITC reported recently when admitting that Manhcester City and Arsenal had been ‘watching’ Kilicsoy. He tells Sporx that there is also interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart.
Aston VIlla, according to a former Besiktas chief, submitted a £12.6 million bid of their own in the summer.
Now, sources in Turkey have now revealed that the teenager is in Nottingham Forest’s sights too.
Like with Baris Alper Yilmaz, Forest will likely have to compete with some of the biggest clubs on the continent if they are to step up their interest in Kilicsoy.
So, while the two-time European champions would have an almighty challenge on their hands, it is worth remembering that few would have imagined Ward-Prowse and Milenkovic donning Garibaldi red not so long ago.
